All About Pocket Knives

I was thinking of purchasing a new Schatt and Morgan Queen Cutlery knife.
I have been living in Pennsylvania all my life and have been a collector for almost all of it.
I recently realized, I have not one Pennsylvania made knife in my collection.
As I am a person who uses most of the knives in my collection, except the ones to fragile or unsafe, I would like to know has anyone on this forum given one of these knives a rigorous field test? I'd like to know how well built these knives are before shelling out a good amount of $$$ for one.

Any info on these knives and their durability would be appreciated.

Thanks,

J W

Here's one that wont quit.
A Queen isn't likely to let you down.

Not ONE Pa knife?? Really?? John

Yea~
I've been checking out there website.
They look to be well built and the guarantee they give is A#1...
I also did a lot of skipping around the internet here and there and haven't found one bad review about the knives.
When I said field test I didn't mean opening mail and slicing an apple.
I spend a lot of time in the woods Camping, hiking and fishing.
I need a knife that can hold up to chopping, carving, slicing, cutting rope and anything else needed for outdoor use.
From what I've read so far, any of there knives should do just that and more.
So I have decided to get one...
The hard part now is choosing which one.
When I head out in the wilderness I usually bring one fixed knife and one folder. The fixed has always been my Sheffield Alfred Williams*EBRO* knife mostly for protection.

This knife was given to me with broken scales so I replaced them with amber dyed ones.
All though the knife has a lot of ware and pitting on the blade it still can be used for what I need it for and is one hell of a sharp knife.

I just don't want to risk screwing up or losing one of my vintage or antique folders and the cheap ones I have been using just don't muster up to the tasks needed.
I am still looking for a choice to pick but I do like the look of one from series 8.
(B) on this cart "Tear drop jack" I like that spear point blade.
I'll have to email to see if one would be available if I choose this one.


This will be my first PA knife but surely not my last as I am going to start collecting a lot more.
J W

Just picked this up from Ray at Sweetwater knives here at AAPK. Great knife!

gino wrote:Just picked this up from Ray at Sweetwater knives here at AAPK. Great knife!

Gino,
I saw your knife on another post today.

The knives are sure good looking.
I hope the one I choose holds up as good as it looks.
We will find out.
I gotta’ wilderness trip planned in a couple of months~
I'll be heading into the pine barrens in New Jersey...
I might need this knife to fight off that Jersey Devil..................
J W

JW, I own a few S&M and a bunch of Queen knives and they are quality made knives 100%. you wont be disapointed.

gino wrote:JW, I own a few S&M and a bunch of Queen knives and they are quality made knives 100%. you wont be disapointed.

Thanks Gino'
From all the positive things I've heard I'm sure they are high quality.
The guarantee the knives have will take care of anything that might go wrong with the knife.
If anything does go wrong with the knife while I am on one of my exertions, I always have my Swiss army knife which I carry in my first aid kit.
Thanks for your 2 cents on the quality of these knives.
I'll let you know which one I choose.
J W

Wow! I thought that a good knife only comes from Penn.
especially Titusville. Gino, that is a fine looking knife.

knives-are-quiet wrote:I was thinking of purchasing a new Schatt and Morgan Queen Cutlery knife.
I have been living in Pennsylvania all my life and have been a collector for almost all of it.
I recently realized, I have not one Pennsylvania made knife in my collection.
As I am a person who uses most of the knives in my collection, except the ones to fragile or unsafe, I would like to know has anyone on this forum given one of these knives a rigorous field test? I'd like to know how well built these knives are before shelling out a good amount of $$$ for one.

Any info on these knives and their durability would be appreciated.

Thanks,

J W

I have decided instead of buying a new spring knife to bring along with me on an upcoming camping trip, that I’d put together one of my own.
Don’t get me wrong, I am still deciding which Shatt and Morgan folder I would like to get to add to my collection since I have no Pennsylvania company made knives. There are a lot of nice knives to choose from Shatt and Morgan and I'm having a hard time deciding.

But guess what? This knife I threw together is also made in Pennsylvania!!!!!!!
I put together this little trapper knife from left over odds and ends from different kits that I used parts from in the past. The wood scales are made from a hunk of root wood I retrieved from a fallen tree in the forest.
Don’t ask me what type of wood. I couldn’t tell since this tree has been laying on the forest floor for a couple of years.
Here are some pictures of the build which only took a few hours work.
I am not going crazy with the detail work on this knife. I am going to really use and abuse this one. She is built tough. Both blades and the springs are AU-6 stainless. The liners are from some kit that had bolsters on both ends. I ground off the rear ones and shaped them into a trapper frame. The liners are brass and the bolster stainless. Brass pins used to attach the root wood handles and stainless pins everywhere else.
The root wood is petrified and is as hard as a rock. Very hard to sand.
I think this knife will hold up to my rugged needs and beyond.
I don’t have to work tomorrow and am planning on a stroll into the local forest to give this knife a test run. I’ll hack around with it for a little while and see how she holds up.

J W

Root wood 1:

Root wood 2:

Cutting root wood into scales:

Scales shaped:

Drilling:

Glue:

Handles pinned:

handles ruff shaped:

Assembly 1:

Assemby 2:

Assemby 3:

Pinning 1:

Pinning 2:

Assemby complete:

Pennsylvania Trapper complete after hand finish work:

JW, very cool project and great photos. Nice work! The best knives come from Pennsylvania.

Nice job!! Now you do have a Pa knife!! Sweet!! John

Well this little PA trapper past my tests.
I took the knife along with me on a hike into the forest looking for more interesting wood to use as scales as apposed to buying them. "Every penny counts these Days".
I did a lot of gouging out chunks with the knife of different woods laying on the forest floor.
The main test was to see if the pivot pins and bolsters will hold up to heavy cutting when carving hard woods and if I pinned them correctly.
Most all the knives I've used in the past end up getting that wobble or play in the blade in no time at all. Even most expensive company made ones. The key is in the type of steel that is used . AU-6, sandvik or any high quality stainless is your best bet unless you can get some titanium. But that would be more expensive I'm sure.

Got some nice scale material.
A couple of pieces of black walnut seasoned and cured from fallen branches around the trees.
Black walnut is a common tree in southern PA but around where I live they are hard to find.
Found a nice grove of four or five trees around 80 feet tall.

I also came across a dead young ash tree with a growth on it the size of a softball.
The tree probably died from insect infestation or disease that caused the growth.
Lucky for me the growth = burl wood.

This piece is very rare and hard to find around my way and was worth the whole trip.
Now I need to find just the right knife to use this wood on.
J W

That's a well done trapper. That burled piece looks like it'll make into a nice one as well.

Nice thread JW. I'm looking forward to seeing your next project with the newly found wood.

Very nice to see your work step by step.
Thank you for taking the time.
The only thing I can help or add is about the dead young ash tree . Before you put any finish on the handles. Use super glue and fill in any holes in the wood. This will make it look cool and also will polish up well. You will have the look of a sold handle that way with out holes but yet see the hole. LOL

If you do not understand me give me a PM.

Ken or justold52

I had my first D'Holder knife and returned it to him and he fixed it by filling in the holds. D'Holder is a knife maker. I was so dumb at the time and it was a Schrade D'Holder. But he fixed it any way.

justold52 wrote:Very nice to see your work step by step.
Thank you for taking the time.
The only thing I can help or add is about the dead young ash tree . Before you put any finish on the handles. Use super glue and fill in any holes in the wood. This will make it look cool and also will polish up well. You will have the look of a sold handle that way with out holes but yet see the hole. LOL

If you do not understand me give me a PM.

Ken or justold52

I had my first D'Holder knife and returned it to him and he fixed it by filling in the holds. D'Holder is a knife maker. I was so dumb at the time and it was a Schrade D'Holder. But he fixed it any way.

Thanks for your suggestion.
I do understand what your getting at.
But I might just leave the holes for more of a grip.
Most of the knives created or repaired are users.
Silky smooth handles are nice and beautiful to look at but also can be kind of slippery when your using the knife.
I appreciate your input.

Thanks~

J W

<PS> The handles on the knife you posted are quite exquisite.

knives-are-quiet wrote:I was thinking of purchasing a new Schatt and Morgan Queen Cutlery knife.
I have been living in Pennsylvania all my life and have been a collector for almost all of it.
I recently realized, I have not one Pennsylvania made knife in my collection.
As I am a person who uses most of the knives in my collection, except the ones to fragile or unsafe, I would like to know has anyone on this forum given one of these knives a rigorous field test? I'd like to know how well built these knives are before shelling out a good amount of $$$ for one.

Any info on these knives and their durability would be appreciated.

Thanks,

J W

Well, I have been doing some research on these S & M knives for a couple of weeks now.
Communicating back and forth with a very informative fellow. Clarence Risner from shattandmorgan.com...
I stated my needs for a very durable knife, not too big and bulky to bring along with me on camping/hiking exertions.
I have narrowed it down to one of there file and wire tested knives.
This ATS_34 steel is supposed to be some of the best around.
Jack knives are my favorite with a spear point or wharncliff blade.
So I'm going with this sway back clasp knife with a single wharncliff blade.
Not a bad price either at $95 shipping included.
I haven't ordered it yet as I'm contimplating purchasing another knife to go along with it.
I've got my eye on this little horticultural knife with a spear point blade.

I'd like to buy all of them if I could. God I wish I was rich..............
J W

I've had my eye on that Sway Back Jack for quite a while. Just haven't been able to kick loose the cash to bring it home. Let us know what you think of it once it settles in at your place.

Is this the Horticulturist knife you're eyeballin'?

jerryd6818 wrote:I've had my eye on that Sway Back Jack for quite a while. Just haven't been able to kick loose the cash to bring it home. Let us know what you think of it once it settles in at your place.

Is this the Horticulturist knife you're eyeballin'?

Oh Yea~
That's the one.
It has that old world antique style, blades and all.
I’ll have to wait till tomorrow when I get paid to see if I have the funds to purchase this one along with
the clasp knife. shattandmorgan.com's price is $75 including shipping.
After July the prices are going to be increased.

J W

JW, thanks for posting your making of that knife. I really enjoyed seeing it. Awesome job.

knives-are-quiet Hello;

You said "After July the prices are going to be increased."

Not shure who is increassing prices? Clarance, S&M, or all the dealers?

Ken

justold52 wrote:knives-are-quiet Hello;

You said "After July the prices are going to be increased."

Not shure who is increassing prices? Clarance, S&M, or all the dealers?

Ken

This is the replied message after I inquired about a particular knife.

MR. WEAVER; ALL OF THE KNIVES IN SERIES SIX ARE AVAILABLE, HOWEVER IN SERIES VIII
I DON'T HAVE ANY OF #41906 TEAR DROP JACK. I HAVE THESE IN A FEW SETS OF THIS
SERIES. THE PRICES ARE VERY GOOD. WILL BE A PRICE INCREASE BY END OF JULY ON ALL
OF THE KEYSTONE SERIES S & M. KNIVES. LET ME KNOW YOUR NEEDS.

THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST. CLARENCE

"Not too sure who is increasing either"
Everything has increased over the last few years because of this economic recession.


J W

knives-are-quiet wrote:

jerryd6818 wrote:I've had my eye on that Sway Back Jack for quite a while. Just haven't been able to kick loose the cash to bring it home. Let us know what you think of it once it settles in at your place.

Is this the Horticulturist knife you're eyeballin'?

Oh Yea~
That's the one.
It has that old world antique style, blades and all.
I’ll have to wait till tomorrow when I get paid to see if I have the funds to purchase this one along with
the clasp knife. shattandmorgan.com's price is $75 including shipping.
After July the prices are going to be increased.

J W

Well looks like I'll only be able to purchase one of these two knives as the starter on my truck needed to be replaced. Cost me $160 for a new one which I installed myself this morning.
I am leaning more on getting the little horticultural jack.
It is a little cheaper and a little smaller then the clasp knife.
Minimizing and light weight is also critical when hiking in the wilderness.
I'll find out if one is available and order it tomorrow.
Both these knives concern me a little having bone handles.
Bone is tough but one good smack on the ground and they will crack or brake.
I'll only use the folder for eating, cutting fishing line and so on "small tasks".
My fixed blade will be for all the tough work. I usually bring along a very old Sheffield knife that is more of a fighting type knife that also has bone scales.
I decided on Saturday to take a drive to a little knife shop I know that sells a few put together kit knives along with custom and collectable vintage ones. The customs and collectable ones are very pricey at this place but the kits are quite reasonable.
I was looking for a bushcraft type blade. Although not too many kits to chose from and no bushcraft, I came across this platte blade kit. Although not the typical bushcraft looking knife, this blade is very thick gage (3/16 of an inch on the back edge) and made of high carbon stainless. It will be a very good knife for batoning "splitting" wood. Those bone scales on my old Sheffield will in no way be able to handle this type of impact without breaking.
I can also now leave my hatchet at the main camp when going on day hikes.
The kit only cost $9.95. Jantz sells the same one for ten dollars more.
Comes with Corby type fasteners, canvas type sheath and dymond wood scales.
8 inches overall with a 3 1/2 inch blade.
I used olive wood for the handles. I have a large 1 inch thick board 4 foot long and 6 inches wide that I acquired from a friend of mine. Traded one of my knives for it.
Had my Sister inlaws Brother split it down the middle into 2 - 1/2 inch planks so the scales I make out of the wood, will be bookmatched.
Used stainless pins. Those screw together Corby's suck and are the easy way. Plus you need to purchase a step down bit to install them. Don't even want to get into what I think of Dymond wood. "very colorful plywood ~ "crap".
I'll use the canvas sheath till I replace it with a leather one.
Need to make a lanyard also.
Your buying just the blade and everything else is trash with this kit.
Using a high carbon stainless blade, super tough olive wood handles and 440 stainless pins, I think I created a pretty tough little Bushcraft.
Only working half a day tomorrow because of a dentist appointment I have, After that it's into the woods to try out this little knife.





J W